ST JOHNS, FL. A sushi restaurant in St. Johns was found with toxic chemicals improperly stored or labeled near food during an August inspection, one of six high-severity violations that state inspectors documented at Fancy Sushi at 145 Beachwalk Shore Drive, and the restaurant remained open.
The August 28 inspection produced six high-priority citations and one intermediate violation. That tally matches the most serious inspection the restaurant has faced in its recorded history, and it came six months after an identical high-severity count in February.
What Inspectors Found
The chemical storage citation is among the most acutely dangerous findings in the report. Improperly stored or unlabeled chemicals near food create a direct contamination path, and mislabeling means that even staff attempting to follow procedure may unknowingly use the wrong product on food-contact surfaces.
Inspectors also cited the restaurant for employees not reporting symptoms of illness. At a sushi restaurant, where much of what reaches a customer's plate is raw or minimally handled, a sick food worker is a direct transmission route with almost no barrier between the employee and the diner.
The person in charge was found either absent or not actively performing supervisory duties. That citation accompanied findings of improper handwashing technique, unsanitized food contact surfaces, and multi-use utensils that were not properly cleaned.
A consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods was also missing. Fancy Sushi, by its nature, serves raw fish. Without that advisory posted, customers who are pregnant, elderly, immunocompromised, or otherwise at elevated risk have no way of knowing the menu carries items that state law requires to carry a warning.
What These Violations Mean
The illness-reporting violation is worth pausing on. Food workers who do not report symptoms are the leading cause of multi-victim outbreaks, according to CDC data cited in the inspection record. Norovirus, in particular, spreads rapidly in food-service settings and can sicken dozens of customers from a single infected employee. At a sushi counter, where a worker's hands make direct contact with food that will be served raw, the gap between one sick employee and a table of sick customers is measured in minutes.
The handwashing and food-contact-surface violations compound that risk. Improper technique leaves pathogens on hands even when a washing attempt is made. Unsanitized cutting boards, prep surfaces, and utensils then become secondary transfer points. The intermediate citation for multi-use utensils adds a third layer: improperly cleaned utensils develop bacterial biofilms within 24 hours, and those biofilms resist standard sanitizing once established.
The toxic chemical citation stands apart from the others in kind. Bacterial contamination from poor hygiene makes people sick over hours or days. Chemical contamination can cause acute poisoning with a single serving. Inspectors found chemicals improperly stored or labeled at Fancy Sushi, a finding that carries immediate risk for anyone who ate there on or before August 28.
The absent manager ties all of it together. CDC research cited in the inspection record shows that establishments without active managerial control have three times more critical violations. The six high-priority citations logged in a single visit at Fancy Sushi fit that pattern precisely.
The Longer Record
Fancy Sushi has four inspections on record, with 31 total violations across those visits. That history is short, but the trajectory is not reassuring.
The restaurant's first recorded inspection, in February 2025, produced zero high-severity violations and zero intermediate violations. Six months later, in August 2025, inspectors returned and found four high-priority violations and two intermediate citations. The February 2026 inspection matched that count exactly, four high and two intermediate. The August 2026 inspection added two more high-severity violations for a total of six, the worst single-visit result in the facility's record.
The violations have not been random. Illness reporting, handwashing, food contact surfaces, and managerial oversight have appeared across multiple inspections. These are not isolated slip-ups or paperwork errors. They are recurring failures in the same operational categories, visit after visit.
The restaurant has never been emergency-closed. No inspection in its history has resulted in an order to shut down.
Still Open
State inspectors documented six high-severity violations at Fancy Sushi on August 28, 2026, including toxic chemicals stored near food, employees not reporting illness symptoms, and no consumer advisory for the raw fish the restaurant serves as its core product.
The restaurant was not closed.
